Rode my bike over to Schiffendecker Preserve and then to Walmart, got a four pound bag of frozen strawberries that I found myself snacking on all evening, and then made strawberry pancakes this morning.
I could have driven now that I have the SuperDuty but I am liking just watching as the truck still has 51 miles on the odometer ⏳ as I know those days just won’t last long. I did actually sit out in the truck for a while yesterday, just adjusting the mirrors and trying to learn the various switches and controls, but I haven’t driven it at all since I brought the truck home on Tuesday evening. ⛽ I am guess I’m savoring the 34 gallons of fuel the truck came from the dealership with, but also I know how much healthier it is both for my body and the planet to ride my bike 🚲 rather then drive to Wally World. Plus it limits how much stuff I can buy, which helps to save money. I might own a very nice SuperDuty work truck, bought with cash, but that is no excuse to stop being frugal.
It was nice sitting in the truck, 🛻 and it’s not quite as smelly as I was when I first got it with all the chemicals. I know I shouldn’t complain about the toxic new car smell, a lot of people savor it, 👃 but in my mind it’s just a lot of carcogenic chemicals, not unlike some of things I’ve smelled over the years burning garbage. 🔥 Honestly, it’s not so bad with the windows open, maybe I should get a car freshener and have even more toxic chemicals. Soon enough though I’m sure camping with the mud and wood smoke, it won’t smell like it once did. With gas prices, and waiting for the truck cap, though I don’t how much I’ll break it in this spring, 🌸 though I do kind of do want to get enough miles on the truck that I have at least a thousand or two before I do my Michigan trip, probably looking at August now. Figuring 10 weeks from next Saturday is June 20th, so if I order an ARE Truck Cap, I figure that’s a reasonable estimate on delivery. Honestly, I don’t love black fly season that much. Hammock camping at Cole Hill is always a fun alternative.
There is still July or even August for taking a week or two off for a vacation, 🏖️ even if I am waiting for a cap and to wire everything up in the mean-time. In some ways, with work and gas prices this would be a bad year to do Michigan but I also worry this could be my best last chance with my parents getting older 👴🏻 and likely needing more care and eventually, I’ll probably end up taking over their homestead with animals to feed. But also, it’s a SuperDuty and let’s say it’s 3,000 miles round trip at 16 MPG at $5 a gallon, that’s basically a $1,000 in a fuel. Though it would be a pretty awesome trip, and I wouldn’t have a lot of expenses, maybe a few park or campground fees, some food, tolls, I don’t know. 🏕️ Still $1,500 for an awesome trip might be worth it. If it doesn’t happen this year, though I might still do West Virginia come late autumn, assuming there aren’t a lot of snow. And then in late summer, just spend a lot of time in Green Mountains, working remote, etc. I have unlimited 5G Wi-Fi included on my new truck until March 2027, and if I get a cellphone booster and build up the battery pack and solar, 📶 I should be able to work remote a good portion of the autumn.
Today though in the mean time, 🫘 cooking down a big pan of pinto beans, and then riding over to Pine Hollow Arboretum and then Five Rivers in the search of elusive signs of spring. 🌸 Then later I’ll probably run to Market 32 and get some carrots 🥕 and oatmeal, 🥣, and just otherwise read and hang out. 📖 Supposed to be a nice morning, though already clouds are pushing in. 🌥️ I don’t know. Yesterday, I got chatting with AI, thinking more about how much money I spent on the SuperDuty, and comparing it to alternatives, and while I know I made the right decision for myself, ⚖️ I have my doubts and are still skeptical. Maybe I should have used the money for a plastic house in the suburbs, but I still would much rather wait, rent for a few more years while I’m young, let my investments grow, and then buy that off-grid hunting camp 🏡 or similar remote property to live in permanently with an early retirement in my late 50s. I don’t need a big fancy house right now, with all the unrecoverable maintance and utility costs, or paying a bank interest, when I can just in under a decade and half, buy something that I actually like with cash, in remote country, have livestock 🐐 and fires 🔥 with nobody giving a damn. Still, I hate how one internet psot after another condemns you as being a silly 😋 person for renting such a run-down apartment on the bus line, when you could own your own plastic house with recycling bins and drive a 25-year old Honda Civic.